American Go E-Journal » World

Jie Liang 7D (r), the U.S. representative to the Korean Prime Minister’s Cup, finished in fourth place with a 6-1 record, reported American Go Association President Allan Abramson on Sunday, October 24. Liang defeated Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Indonesia, Israel, and Slovakia, losing to 18-year-old Artem Kachanovskyy of the Ukraine in the sixth round. Artem played for the championship, but lost to the undefeated champion, Sang-Hun Lee of Korea. Yoshiyuki Tschimune of Japan took second, and Yuqing Hu of China took third, both also with 6-1 records. Kachanovskyy was fifth, followed by 13-year-old Hung Yuan Yeh of Tapei in sixth, 16-year-old Ryan Li of Canada in seventh, Guyu Liu of Australia in eighth, Juri Kuronen of Finland in ninth, and Ondrej Silt of the Czech Republic in tenth place. This year, the 72-player KPMG took place in Changwon, near the South Coast of South Korea. It is a “new” town of about a million, with a governmental focus on industry and green policies. “About 400 other players participated in a one-day district tournament,” Abramson adds, “including many children, and a women’s section. The Korean press was much in evidence.” Click here for official news and results and here for Abramson’s photos. photo: Jie Liang (r) plays Italy’s Allessandro Scolavino in the first round

The legendary Sakata Eio 9P died Thursday, October 21 at the age of 90. Perhaps best-known in the West as the author of the indispensable Killer of Go, Sakata — nicknamed “The Razor” — became a professional go player in 1935. In his first title match — the 1951 Honinbo – Sakata was under pressure to win the title back for the Nihon Ki-in and though he won the first three matches, Hashimoto Utaro fought back and won the final four games to keep the Honinbo title. Afterwards, Sakata went on to win a couple of small titles which were the start of a meteoric run of major wins in which he won almost all of the titles in Japan except the Honinbo. In 1961 he once again challenged for the Honinbo, this time winning and taking it from Takagawa Kaku, who had held the title for nine straight years straight. Sakata then captured the Meijin in 1963, making him the first player to simultaneously hold both titles, which at the time were the biggest titles in Japan. Sakata’s strongest year was 1964, when he won 30 games, lost just two and held seven major titles: Meijin, Honinbo, Nihon Ki-in Championship, Asahi Pro Best Ten, Oza, Nihon Kiin#1, and NHK Cup. Sakata’s professional career waned in 1965, when he lost the Meijin to 23-year-old Rin Kaiho. Sakata challenged two years in a row but could not win the Meijin back and though he then lost the Honinbo to Rin as well, Sakata went on to win many other titles, including the Judan and Oza. In addition to Killer of Go, Sakata’s books in English include Modern Joseki and Fuseki, The Middle Game of Go, and Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go. In his LifeIn19x19 memory of Sakata’s 1986 visit to the U.S. Go Congress, Keith Arnold recommends “the late Nakayama’s essay regarding a game between Sakata and Shuko – a wonderful game and a wonderful story that truly makes you feel like you are in the room with him. The moment when he exclaims in frustration ‘This shows how hopeless I am at go’ and his genuine anger when the players at the next board burst out in laughter is priceless. As was he.”- Chris Garlock, adapted from Wikipedia

Three Koreans & One Chinese Player Advance to Samsung Cup Semis. In second-round play on October 14, Kim Jiseok 7P, Park Junghwan 8P, and Heo Yeongho 7P of Korea and Gu Li 9P of China advanced to the semi-finals. The semi-finals will be played November 1-4 as three-game series with Kim Jiseok playing Gu Li and Heo Yeongho playing Park Junghwan. In the second round, Kim Jiseok defeated Kong Jie 9P, Gu Li defeated Lee Sedol 9P, Park Junghwan defeated Won Sungjin 9P, and Heo Yeongho defeated Wang Lei 6P (game records). In the first round, played on October 13, there were no major surprises. Kong Jie defeated Lee Changho 9P by resignation in a fairly short game of 142 moves. Lee Sedol defeated Yamashita Keigo 9P by resignation after coming back from a deficit during the middle game. Kim Jiseok defeated Park Jiyeon 2P, and Gu Li defeated Han Sanghoon 5P. In other first round results, Heo Yeongho defeated Wang Tao 3P, Won Sungjin defeated Zhou Ruiyang 5P, Wang Lei defeated Park Yeonghun 9P, and Park Junghwan defeated Choi Cheolhan 9P.- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

The US team of Curtis Tang and Wanyu Chen (left) placed 15th — out of 32 — in the the 21st annual International Amateur Pair Go Championships in Tokyo, finishing with a record of 3-2. Canada finished 3-2 in 10th place. Tang and Chen won against Slovakia, Sweden and Thailand, and lost to two strong Japanese pairs. The overall winners were the Korean pair of Song Hong Suk and Lee Yeongju. Second and third went to two Japanese pairs.
- report/photo by Allan Abramson; click here for more photos

Won Sungjin Wins Round 1 in Caltex Cup. Won Sungjin 9P defeated Park Yeonghun 9P by resignation in the first round of the 15th GS Caltex Cup challenger decision match. The winner of this best-of-three series will face Cho Hanseung 9P who is the current Caltex Cup title holder. Last year’s Caltex Cup title match was between Cho Hanseung and Park Yeonghun, with Cho winning 3-1. Park Yeonghun vs. Won Sungjin in Myeongin Title Match. In the third and final round of the 38th Myeongin semifinals, Park Yeonghun 9P (r in photo) defeated Lee Changho 9P (l) by resignation after 253 moves. Park will now face Won Sungjin 9P for the title in a best of five series. This will be Park’s first Myeongin title match and Won’s second attempt at securing the title. Won lost to Lee Changho 3-1 in last year’s Myeongin.- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

Victor Chow won the 2010 South Africa Closed Championship last month. The tournament was held in the library of Bergvliet High School in Cape Town September 24th to 26th. Of the 8 players who qualified, four were based in the Cape and four in Gauteng. Chow, being so much stronger than the others, was given special permission to play his games beforehand, and as usual, there were a number of upsets, time pressure finishes, wins against the run of play and exciting battles. Notably Konrad Scheffler finished most games in byo-omi, his game against John Leuner requiring 8 moves in just 12 seconds. Second-place finisher Welile Gogotshe also won the 2010 Soweto Open Go Tournament, held on September 12.There was a great friendly atmosphere to the tournament which contrasted with the intense competitive spirit in which the games were played. On Saturday night the players and wives/children went to a local restaurant for a meal together. Click here for more news from South African go clubs.WINNER’S REPORT: Champion: Victor Chow; 2nd: Welile Gogotshe (promoted to 2d); 3rd: Konrad Scheffler; 4th: John Leuner; Andre Connell, Andrew Davies, Sam Scott had 2 points each and Chris Welsh had one point.- Lloyd Rubidge, South African Correspondent for the E-Journal

Xie He wins the Quzhou-Lanke Cup. On September 30, Xie He 7P (r in photo) defeated Jiang Weijie 5P by resignation to become the new Quzhou-Lanke Cup Champion. The tournament, which started in 2006, is held in alternating years, with total prize money at one million Yuan. The winner receives 500,000 Yuan (approximately $75,000) and the runner-up 150,000 ($23,000). In 2006 and 2008, the Quzhou-Lanke Cup champions were Yu Bin 9P and Gu Li 9P, respectively. In the semifinals, held on September 28, Xie defeated Zhou Ruiyang 5P by resignation, while Jiang had a 2.5 point victory over Yang Dingxin 2P. Lee Changho stays alive in Myeongin. In the Myeongin semifinals, Lee Changho 9P evened the series at 1-1 by defeating Park Yeonghun 9P by resignation on September 30. The first game of the match was won by Park by resignation on September 28. The final game to decide who will play Won Sungjin 9P for the Myeongin title will be played on October 5.- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge

The International Conference on Computers and Games (ICGA) Computer Game Olympics, which included a computer go championship, were just held in Kanazawa, Japan. There were 9×9, 13×13, and 19×19 tournaments, with professional commentary and an exhibition match against a pro on Saturday, the last day of the conference. Many Faces of Go won the 13×13 tournament; stay tuned for results of the 9×9 and 19×19.

Quzhou-Lanke Cup Semifinalists. Xie He 8P, Zhou Ruiyang 5P, Jiang Weijie 5P, and Yang Dingxin 2P each won their respective3rd round matches in in the 3rd Quzhou-Lanke Cup and now advance to the semifinals, which will be played on September 28th. Iyama Yuta 3-0 in Meijin. Iyama Yuta 9P defeated Takao Shinji 9P by resignation in the third round of the 35th Meijin. Yuta has won all of the first three matches in the best of seven series. The next round will be played on October 6th and 7th.
- JustPlayGo; edited by Jake Edge